French Maneuver To Disable UN Efforts, Hit The MINURSO

American initiative that is backed by Britain and Russia, which are two permanent members at the UN Security Council, faced a fierce French campaign that seeks to dilute and strip it of its urgency.

After the issuance of the American resolution on 60-day deadline, the UN Secretary General is asked to reactivate the MINURSO mission in the Saharawi occupied territories, and this deadline was extended with the new American project and a French intervention, to become 120 days, to win more time and continue the path of disabling the UN efforts in this context, as a paragraph containing “Searching for the best ways” to activate the MINURSO mission, while the original text asserted on “immediate action” by the Security Council if this resolution is not realized.

Russia, Venezuela, Uruguay and Angola asked, during the closed session through which the text was modified, the consultation of their capitals on the amended text through which France is trying to disrupt the UN efforts to maintain the current stalemate.

Representatives of the mentioned States rejected the commitment to the project in its new version, and consultations continue on the document by the experts and representatives of Security Council’s member states level.

Russia’s permanent representative at the UN Security Council, Vitaly Churkin, said that discussions on the text “will not be easy.”

Many of the weighing up international organizations asked the Security Council to accelerate the setting of a date for a referendum of the Saharawi people’s self-determination, and the African Union called upon the Security Council to expand the powers of the MINURSO to include human rights monitoring in Western Sahara and the Saharawi refugee camps.

The African Union called on the UN Security Council to set a date for a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara, and its special envoy on Western Sahara, Joaquim Chissano, said the solution to the conflict in Western Sahara will be achieved through the organization of a referendum to decide about the fate of the Saharawi people, warning of a return to war again unless new steps are taken to reach a quick and fair settlement of the conflict.

Amnesty International, in turn, asked the Security Council to include human rights monitoring in the Saharawi occupied territories, and the Saharawi refugee camps within its priorities, when it discusses the issue of Western Sahara.

International organization explained that, in front of the increasing restrictions on international human rights, media activists, and peaceful demonstrations, it highlights the need for a UN mechanism that ensures the control of the situation and open the way to improve the Saharawi occupied territories’ human rights situation, and the Sahrawi refugee camps.

In turn, the European Network for Human Rights, which includes 80 human right organizations, representing several European and Arab countries, called upon the Council for the expansion of the powers of MINURSO to include human rights monitoring in the Saharawi occupied territories.

In a letter to members of the Security Council, the issue of human rights in Western Sahara is critical, and is very important for the network, which chairman Michel Tubiana asserted; “Throughout the 25 years of the MINURSO mission, no progress was realized on the ground, so the international community is required to provide a solution to the protracted situation in Western Sahara, and maintaining the extension of the MINURSO mission.